NOORANI'S NOTES

 

 

The Biden administration will continue to use the public health rule,
Title 42, that has expelled hundreds of thousands of migrants at the
U.S.-Mexico border, report Eileen Sullivan and Zolan
Kanno-Youngs of The New York Times
. The
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officially extended
the order
 Monday, citing
the recent spread of the Delta variant of the virus that
causes COVID-19. The administration had initially planned to lift
Title 42 this summer.  

Critics maintain the Trump-era policy "has been employed less to
protect public health than as a politically defensible way to limit
immigration." Now, after months of negotiations, the American Civil
Liberties Union (ACLU) said it will move forward with a lawsuit against
the administration to completely lift the public health order for
migrant families. 

This decision comes as U.S.-Mexico border arrests in July "likely
[surpass] June's numbers that were the highest in decades
,
raising new health and safety concerns during summer's hottest
days," reports Geneva Sands for CNN
. Eliot Spagat reports
for the Associated Press
 that the
number of unaccompanied children presenting at the U.S.-Mexico border
"likely hit an all-time high in July." Meanwhile, South Texas
officials have declared a local disaster declaration due to the
increase in migrants released in the county by border officials,
citing the growing threat of COVID-19 as well, reports Border Report
's
Sandra Sanchez. 

Bringing into sharp clarity the worsening politics, Axios
 is
out with a new poll this morning that found that nearly 37% of
unvaccinated Americans blame "foreign travelers in the U.S." for the
rise in Covid-19 cases.

Welcome to Tuesday's edition of Noorani's Notes. If you have a
story to share from your own community, please send it to me
at [email protected]
.  

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AFGHAN REFUGEES - The State Department announced
 Monday
that it would expand eligibility for Afghan allies seeking admission
to the U.S. as refugees who do not qualify for Special Immigrant Visas
(SIVs), report Jessica Donati and Alan Cullison of The Wall Street
Journal
. The
new priority designation will include thousands of Afghans who
worked as employees of U.S. government contractors for
U.S.-funded programs, U.S.-based media, or
nongovernmental organizations. It will also include eligible family
members. "Afghans applying for refugee status
 under
the new criteria will need to be referred by a current or former
employer, then relocate to a third country," and will need to cover the
costs of travel and lodging on their own, Donati and
Cullison add. This expansion comes as the Taliban continues
advancing in Afghanistan in addition to "significant bipartisan
pressure
" urging the
Biden administration to protect Afghan allies.  TWO YEARS
LATER - Today, I'm thinking about my friends in El Paso,
Texas. Two years after the massacre of 23 people in
a local Walmart - "one of the nation's most horrific hate crimes
and the biggest attack against Mexicans and Mexican Americans in modern
history" - anti-immigrant rhetoric, fear-mongering, and political
tensions over immigration continue, writes a team at Dallas Morning
News
. Texas
Gov. Greg Abbott (R) "recently likened immigrants to invaders, in a
sharp contrast from the somber, apologetic tone he took just after the
killings."  In fact, today an El Paso federal judge, Kathleen
Cardone, will rule in court against
Abbott's latest order restricting transportation of undocumented
immigrants, reports René Kladzyk of El Paso Matters
. (Take
a few minutes to read Bishop Seitz's pastoral letter
 written in the
months after the massacre.)  

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BORDER PATROL CHAPLAINS - Mya Jaradat of the Deseret News
 gives
us a first-person look at Border Patrol and the human element of
what their jobs entail. Being on the ground is often taxing and
dangerous, but faith and spiritual support can help them move
forward. "And relationships - with God and with each other - are at
the core of the chaplaincy program," Jaradat writes. Currently, there
are 164 chaplains in the Border Patrol serving over 24,000
agents. "The most important part is being able to connect" with other
agents, said Spencer Hatch, assistant chief of the U.S. Border
Patrol's chaplaincy program. The main goal is a "ministry of
presence," Hess and others say. "God has a purpose for all of our lives
... as a chaplain, my job is not to figure out why you are given what
you are given. My job is to figure out things in my life," Hess
said.  

DIVERSITY VISAS - The Diversity Visa program was targeted by former
President Trump in 2017 - and under the new
administration, applicants remain in limbo, Nicole
Narea reports for Vox
. "What
the Biden administration has done to the diversity visa program in
deprioritizing, it contravenes [his campaign promises
],
and we're worse off because of it," said Rafael Urena, an American
attorney representing diversity visa applicants affected by the
policy. Rep. Grace Meng (D-New York) announced an amendment
 in
July to rollover unused diversity visas from 2020 and 2021 to remain
available after the fiscal year ends on September 30,
but the future for many applicants remains uncertain. "We are not
just case numbers. We are people. ... This is our only chance for a
better future," said Lizbeth Rosales, a diversity visa lottery winner
from Lima, Peru. 

REPPING REFUGEES - In 2010, Olympic qualifier Jamal Mohammed fled
the Sudanese province of Darfur to resettle in Israel and built a new
life and career in running, reports George Ramsay of CNN
. Today, Mohammed
will run his first Olympic 5,000-meter race in Tokyo as part of
the Refugee Olympic Team. "I'm going to compete for 80 million
people around the world who left their countries to go to find a better
place for them and help them achieve their goals," Mohammed
told CNN Sport. Added Filippo Grandi, the United Nations High
Commissioner for Refugees and one of the Forum's 2021 Leading
the Way
 speakers: "We've
all shared hardship and deprivation and separation from loved ones;
we've all lived through a sort of collective exile. ... Somehow they
carried a double symbolism in [their] entrance in the Olympic
Stadium." 

Thanks for reading, 

Ali

 

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